Louver



D c- 3, 1955 1. w. JONES ETAL LOUVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 25,1953 INVENTORS rill] United States Patent '9 LOUVER Ila W. Jones andJoseph E. Ray, Beaumont, Tex.

Application March 25, 1953, Serial No. 344,630

8 Claims. (Cl. 98-121) the parts of which may be effectively securedtogether with a minimum of fastenings and without requiring soldering orwelding, so that if necessary a damaged louver blade or slat may bereadily replaced.

A further object of the invention is to provide a louver wherein thelouver slats or blades have turned back edges providing rounded surfacesand which effectively function to prevent rain or snow beating inthrough the louver between the slats or blades thereof.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, looking toward theouter side of the louver;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view, partly in section,looking toward the inner side thereof;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the central portion of thelouver;

Figure 4 is a sectional view thereof taken substantially along a planeas indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional view takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 55 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially along aplane as indicated by the line 66 of Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary plan view looking toward the inner side of theuppermost louver blade or slat;

Figure 8 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially along aplane as indicated by the line 8-8 of Figure 5;

Figure 9 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially along aplane as indicated by the line 99 of Figure 2;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary side elevational view looking toward theinner side of one part of the louver; and

Figure 11 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale of said louverpart taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 11-11 ofFigure l0.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the novel louver in itsentirety is designated generally 12 and includes a bottom member 13,substantially identical side members 14 and 15 and a plurality ofseparate louver blades or slats 16, 17 and 18. Each of said parts isformed preferably of a single piece of sheet metal.

The bottom member 13 is formed from an elongated strip of sheet metaland is provided with a turned back or rolled bottom edge 19 extendingfrom end-to-end thereof. The upper portion of the strip forming thebottom member 13 extends upwardly and inwardly at an incline to providea bottom louver slat or blade 20 having an outwardly turned back upperedge 21 forming a downwardly and outwardly opening channel 22. The slator blade 20 extends upwardly and inwardly from the inner or rear face ofthe bottom member 13 and the rolled bottom edge 19 is likewise turnedbackwardly against said rear face, as best illustrated in Figure 4. Asbest seen in Figures 2 and 6, the bottom slat or blade 20 has upwardlyand inwardly inclined ends each of which is pro vided with an upturnedflange 23 which is disposed in a plane substantially perpendicular tothe plane of the bottom member 13, as seen in Figure 6. The lowerportion of the bottom member 13 includes end portions 24 which extendbeyond the ends of the blade or slat 20 and which are provided withbeveled ends 25 which extend downwardly and outwardly in divergingrelationship to one another.

Each of the side members 14 and 15 comprises an elongated strip of sheetmetal which is folded longitudinally to form an inwardly opening channel26, as best illustrated in Figures 8, l0 and 11 and which includes arelatively wide intermediate or bight portion 27 and sub stantiallyparallel inner and outer walls 28 and 29. The walls 28 and 29 haveinturned flanges 30 and 31, respectively, at their outer edges whichextend toward one another and the adjacent edges of which are spaced asubstantial distance apart. The channel 26 is formed by one longitudinalside edge of the strip forming the side member 14 or 15, the other sideedge of which provides a relatively wide front flange 32 which isdisposed along the outer side of the front wall 29 and extends laterallytherefrom substantially beyond the intermediate portion '27 of thechannel 26. A portion 33 of the strip forming the side member 14 or 15extends along the outer side of the flange 31 and constitutes anoutwardly turned back ply thereof and which connects said flange to theflange 32. The outer wall 29, located adjacent the front flange 32, hasa lower end extending substantially below the lower end of the innerwall 28. The intermediate or bight portion 27 is provided with aninclined lower end portion having an inwardly turned back lip 34. Theupper end of the bight portion 27 of the side member 14 is provided withan extension forming an apertured fastening strip 35 which is bentinwardly relatively to the plane of said .bight portion 27. The walls 28and 29 of the side member 14 have beveled upper ends 36, as best seen inFigures 2 and 10. The front flanges 32 of the side members 14 and 15extend beyond theends of the channel portions 26 thereof. The lower endsof said flanges 32 are provided with inwardly turned back lips 37 whichare disposed at oblique angles to the longitudinal axes of said frontflanges 32 and at acute angles to the outer edges thereof and in whichthe ends of the bottom rolled edge 19 of the bottom member 13 arereceived and clamped. The end flanges 23 of the bottom slat 20 arereceived and clamped in the inwardly turned back inclined lips 34 of theside members 14 and 15, as best illustrated in Figure 6.

It will thus be seen that the side members 14 and 15 are clamped to theends of the bottom member 13 by the turned back lips 34 and 37 thereofengaging the flanges 23 and the ends of the rolled bottom edge 19 ofsaid bottom member 13. Said side members 14 and 15 extend upwardly fromthe ends of the bottom member 13 in upwardly converging relationship toone another. The upper end of the front flange 32 of the side member 15is provided with a tapered extension 39 which overlies the beveled upperend 40 of the front flange 32 of the side member 14. The upper ends ofthe side walls 28 and 29 of the side member 15 interflt between or underthe beveled upper ends 36 of the walls 28 and 29 of the member 14, asillustrated in Figure 2. The apertured extension 35 of the member 14lies against the outer side of the upper end of the bight portion 27 ofthe member 15 and is secured thereto by screw fastenings 41 which extendthrough the apertures thereof and which threadedly engage apertures 42of said last mentioned bight portion The parts 13, 14 and 15 comprisethe frame of the louver 12, which frame also includes the bottom louverslat or blade 20. Before the frame is completely assembled, aspreviously described, that is, before the upper ends of the side members14 and 15 are connected by the fastenings 41, the detachable louverblades 16, 1'7 and 18 are applied to the frame between said side members14 and 15 and above the bottom louver blade 29. The detachable louverblades 16, 17 and 18 are dernountably supported in the louver frameadjacent their ends by the channel portions 26, the inner flanges ofwhich are provided with downwardly and outwardly inclined notchesincluding a lower notch 43 and an intermediate and upper notch, eachdesignated 44. The notches 43 and 44 are inclined downwardly andoutwardly of the louver 12. The lower notch 43 receives end portions ofthe turned back upper end 21 of the lower louver slat 20. The two slats16 and 17 are provided with similar turned back upper ends or edges 45which are received in the notches 44 of the flanges 30 of the sides 14and 15 and which turned back portions 45 form downwardly and outwardlyopening grooves 46, corresponding to the groove 22. The outer flanges 31and the overlying ply 33 thereof are each provided with threecorresponding upwardly and inwardly opening notches 47. The lower edgesof the detachable slats 16, 17 and 18 are turned inwardly and back uponthemselves to form turned back portions 48, which are disposed on theopposite sides of said slats to the turned back portions 45. Said turnedback portions 48 form upwardly and inwardly opening channels 49. Theturned back portion 48 of the slat 16 has end portions thereof engagingin the lowermost notches 47 and the turned back portion 48 of the slat17 has end portions thereof engaging in the two intermediate notches 47.The turned back portion 48 of the uppermost slat 18 has end portionsengaging in the uppermost notches 47, so that each of said slats and theslat 20 are inclined upwardly and inwardly with respect to the frame ofthe louver. The uppermost slat 18 is substantially triangular in shapeand converges upwardly to a point and has its upwardly converging sideedges and upper end seated in the upper portions of the channels 26, asillustrated in Figures 2 and 4, and is not provided with a turned backupper edge. It will thus be seen that a louver of extremely simpleconstruction has been provided which may be assembled with a minimum offastenings and without the use of soldering or welding, and which may bereadily dismantled sufficiently to remove and replace any one or more ofthe slats 16, 17 and 18.

Obviously, the louver 12 may be made in various sizes and the shapethereof may also be varied.

Various other modifications and changes are contemplated and mayobviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope ofthe invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A louver of the character described comprising a bottom member andside members each formed from a single piece of material, said sidemembers each including a front flange having an end overlying an end ofsaid bottom member and provided with a turned back terminal portion inwhich a part of an end portion of the bottom member is received andclamped, each of said side members including a longitudinally extendingchannel member disposed behind the front flange thereof and in a planesubstantially perpendicular to the plane of said front flange, saidchannel members opening inwardly with respect to one another and eachhaving side walls provided with inturned flanges, said flanges being provided with notches opening outwardly of the inner edges thereof anddisposed obliquely to the longitudinal axes of said channels, aplurality of louver slats extending between said side members and havingend portions engaging in said channels and longitudinal edge portionsengaging said inclined notches, said longitudinal edge portions of eachlouver slat engaging staggeredly arranged notches of the two channelswhereby the slats are supported in inclined planes behind said frontflanges of the side members and in spaced apart substantially parallelrelationship to one another, and means constituting an angular extensionof the channel of one of said side members and detachably secured to thechannel of said other side member and detachably connecting said sidemembers at their upper ends for releasably retaining the end portions ofthe louver slats in engagement with said channels and flange notches.

2. A louver as in claim 1, and an upper louver slat having a bottom edgeengaging uppermost notches of the two channel flanges located adjacentsaid front flanges of the side members, said uppermost louver slathaving upwardly converging side edges merging at the apex thereof, saidupwardly converging side edges being seated in the upper ends of saidchannels.

3. A louver as in claim 1, said bottom member having an upwardly andinwardly inclined upper portion spaced from the ends thereofconstituting a lower louver slat, said lower louver slat having endportions seated in said channels and an inner edge portion engagingnotches of the channel flanges disposed remote from said front flanges.

4. A louver of the character described comprising a substantiallytriangular frame consisting of a bottom member and a pair of sidemembers each formed from a single piece of material, said side membershaving lower end portions overlying end portions of the bottom memberand including turned back lips engaging around and clamped to saidbottom member, said side members extending upwardly in convergingrelationship to one another and having upper ends, including overlappingportions, defining the apex of the louver frame, fastening meansdetachably connecting said overlapping portions of the upper ends ofsaid side members, each of said side members including a front flange,said front flanges being disposed substantially coplanar with oneanother and with a bottom front flange portion of said bottom member,each of said side members including a longitudinally extending inwardlyopening channel disposed behind the front flange thereof and in a planesubstantially perpendicular to the plane of said front flange, saidchannels having side walls provided with inturned flanges, said sidewall flanges having notches opening through inner edges thereof andinclined relatively to the longitudinal axes of the channels, aplurality of demountable louver blades having end portions engaging insaid channels and longitudinal edge portions engaging staggered notchesof the flanges of each channel for supporting said louver blades behindsaid front flanges of the side members and inclined relatively to theplane thereof.

5. A louver as in claim 4, a bottom louver blade formed integral withsaid bottom member and having end portions engaging in said channels andportions of a free edge thereof engaging complementary notches of thetwo channels.

6. A louver of the character described comprising a bottom member and apair of side members defining a substantially triangular shaped frame,each of said side members having a front flange, said front flangeshaving lower ends engaging around and clamped to end portions of saidbottom member, said side members having overlapping upper end portions,fastening means detachably connecting said overlapping upper endportions, inwardly opening channels formed integral with said frontflanges and disposed therebehind and longitudinally thereof, a pluralityof louver slats extending between said side members and having endportions engaging in the channels thereof, said channels having inturnednotched flanges receiving edge portions of the louver slats fordemountably supporting said louver slats in inclined positionsrelatively to the plane of said front flanges and in spaced apartsubstantially parallel relationship to one another.

7. A louver as in claim 1, said longitudinal edge portions of the louverslats comprising turned back channel References Cited in the file ofthis patent edges disposed on opposite sides of the planes of the 10215891529 slats.

8. A louver as in claim 7, each of said slats being inclined upwardlyand rearwardly away from said front flanges of the side members, andsaid upper channel edges being disposed above the slats individualthereto and 15 opening outwardly and downwardly of the louver.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Loehler Nov. 24, 1914 Hamilton Dec. 16, 1930Ferguson Nov. 27, 1945 Belden Jan. 4, 1949 Avers et al. June 5, 1951Meyer et a1 Feb. 26, 1952 Bowers Mar. 18, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS GreatBritain Feb. 4, 1943

